ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

nationwide

public service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...

radio network run by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

(ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.

History

1937: Predecessors and beginnings

From 1928, the National Broadcasting Service, as part of the federal

Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...

, gradually took over responsibility for all the existing stations that were sponsored by public licence fees ("A" Class licences). The outsourced

Australian Broadcasting Company The Australian Broadcasting Company Pty. Ltd. was a short-lived Australian commercial broadcasting company set up by Sir Benjamin Fuller and Frank Albert. Founded in Melbourne in 1924 with a capital of £A 100,000 by a consortium of enter ...

supplied programs from 1929. In 1932 a commission was established, merging the original ABC company and the National Broadcasting Service. It is from this time that Radio National dates as a distinct network within the ABC, in which a system of program relays was developed during the subsequent decades to link stations spread across the nation. The beginnings of Radio National lie with

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

radio station 2FC, which aired its first test broadcast on 5 December 1923 and officially went to air on 9 January 1924. 2FC stood for Farmer and Company, the original owner of the station before the ABC bought the station in 1937. The ABC then rolled out a national network across the country, somewhat similar in nature to the

BBC National Programme The BBC National Programme was a radio service which was on the air from 9 March 1930 – replacing the earlier BBC's experimental station 5XX – until 1 September 1939 when it was subsumed into the BBC Home Service, two days before the outb ...

. The origins of the other stations in the network were: * 3AR

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

– 26 January 1924 "Associated Radio Company of Australia", organised by Esmond Laurence Kiernan and others. * 5CL

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

– 20 November 1924 "Central Broadcasters Ltd". * 7ZL

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

– 17 December 1924. * 4QG

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

– 27 July 1925 "Queensland Government" (operated by the Queensland Radio Service, an agency within the Office of the Chief Secretary). * 6WN

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

– 5 October 1938 "Wanneroo". * 2CY

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

– 23 December 1938. * 2NA

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

– 20 December 1943. The first transmitters for 2FC, 5CL and 4QG were made by AWA with power of 5 kW (note that until about 1931 in Australia, transmitter powers were defined in terms of DC input to final amplifier, typically about three times that of the power into the antenna; thus power today would be stated as about 1.7 kW). They used a MT7A valve for the final high power RF stage and a MT7B for the modulator. The power supply was 12,000 volts from three-phase power rectified by MR7 valves. 4QG commenced with a 500 Watt transmitter which continued for about 6 months until the 5 kW unit was commissioned. The radio transmitters for 3AR and 2FC were upgraded to 10 kW in a contract let in 1938 to STC. The transmitters were designed by Charles Strong in London, and were notable in using negative feedback to ensure a high quality flat frequency response. The power level of 2FC and 3AR was upgraded to 50 kW in the early 1950s. The transmitters for these were housed in the same building as the radio 1 network. They were manufactured by STC. The final stage contained three parallel 3J/261E air cooled

triode A triode is an electronic amplifier, amplifying vacuum tube (or ''thermionic valve'' in British English) consisting of three electrodes inside an evacuated glass envelope: a heated Electrical filament, filament or cathode, a control grid, grid ...

s running in

class C amplifier In electronics, power amplifier classes are letter symbols applied to different power amplifier types. The class gives a broad indication of an amplifier's efficiency, linearity and other characteristics. Broadly, as you go up the alphabet, the am ...

at 90% efficiency. These were driven by a class B push-pull modulator with the same type of valves.

1970s–1980s

In the 1970s, the network's program format began to take on a more serious tone, a style which continues to this day. Art critic Peter Timms later remarked that the network is "virtually the only non-print media forum for art in this country". In the early 1980s the broadcast footprint was extended with the construction of the first of over 300 regional FM transmitters (including community re-broadcast sites). In 1985, the ABC renamed "Radio 2" as "Radio National".

1990s

Since 1990, all Radio National stations have had the same callsign, "RN". As a result of cuts in the 1996–97 budget, Radio National was hit with a reduction of a million dollars in its funding, with a significant impact on programming.

21st century

In 2008, controversial programming changes once more raised the issue of funding cuts to the public broadcaster. Presenter Stephen Crittenden leaked confidential programming changes in an unscheduled live broadcast before the start of his show, criticising his superiors. He was suspended for his outburst, and his unscripted comments were cut from Radio National's podcast and transcript of the program. Religious commentator Paul Collins on crikey.com subsequently echoed Crittenden's fears. Crittenden was reinstated in 2009 as a reporter on ''Background Briefing'', after a settlement was reached. However, his program and the other eight programs that had been cancelled or merged were not re-instated that year. The head of ABC Radio, Sue Howard, was dismissed in 2009. In January 2012 Radio National was rebranded as RN, partly in recognition of the station's growing digital audience. RN has also been used as shorthand for the station's name by many presenters going back several years. RN's tagline, which has changed regularly over the years, was also changed to "Your World Unfolding" to mesh with the station's new logo and visual identity. In 2012 a new Religion and Ethics report was launched, hosted by

Andrew West Andrew or Andy West may refer to: * Andrew West (linguist) (born 1960), English linguist * Andrew West (pianist) (born 1979), English pianist * Andrew Fleming West (1853–1943), American classicist and academic administrator * Andrew J. West ...

. The Media Report was also relaunched, hosted by broadcaster and former Life Matters host

Richard Aedy Richard Aedy is an Australian journalist. He currently presents the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Local Radio program Sunday Profile. He also presented the Radio National technology program "The Buzz" in 2001. Aedy presented "Life Ma ...

. The Media Report was, however, cancelled again in 2015. In late 2016, the new head of the ABC Michelle Guthrie defended the removal of staff and programmes from the Radio National 2017 schedule, with the scope of the new year's lineup culled due to budget cuts with consequent staff and programming reductions.

2025 major changes

In November 2024, Radio National announced new programmes and schedule designed to relaunch the station in 2025 as "the centre of big conversations and create a space where audiences can expand their worldview while engaging with the world’s best thinkers." This was the biggest slate of changes and the largest announcement of new programmes since the 2017 upheaval and cuts. The new programming schedule commenced on 20 January 2025. The station also changed its logo from the previous 'RN' logo to a new 'Radio National' logo. Among the major changes to the station programming included: The return of previous

Radio National Breakfast ''Radio National Breakfast'' and sometimes shortened to ''Breakfast'', is a national early morning news program in Australia, broadcast since 2005. The program is broadcast live in the eastern states, and on delay in other states, on the Austr ...

host

Fran Kelly Fran Kelly is an Australian radio presenter, current affairs journalist and political correspondent who hosted the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National program ''Breakfast'' from March 2005 to early December 2021. Early life and ...

with a new

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

programme at 6p.m. weeknights called the ''Radio National Hour'' and a revamped ''Radio National Breakfast,'' broadcast each weekday from the earlier time of 5:30a.m. with

Sally Sara Sally Jane Sara (born ) is an Australian journalist, TV presenter, author, and playwright. She has worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for many years, including stints as foreign correspondent in Africa, South Asia, and Afghani ...

as host. The new ''Breakfast'' format now included news presenter Luke Siddham Dundon, Canberra-based political correspondent Melissa Clarke and business correspondent Peter Ryan in addition to Sara. The program was changed to model

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

programme, with more serious national and international news covered, as well as live crosses to Clarke and Ryan for politics and business coverage throughout the programme. As part of the change to the schedule, some long-running programmes were cancelled. Afternoon news magazine programme ''RN Drive'' was also axed in favour of Kelly's ''Radio National Hour,'' with host Andy Park now hosting the daily afternoon news and current affair show '' The World Today'', previously hosted by Sara. Economics programme ''The Money'', hosted by Richard Aedy, was cancelled and replaced by new programme ''The Economy, Stupid'' hosted by Peter Martin. Lifestyle and design programme ''Blueprint for Living'' was discontinued, with host Jonathan Green now hosting a new weekly food programme, ''Every Bite''. Rural affairs news magazine programme ''Australia Wide'' (which previously aired at 6:30p.m. weeknights) is no longer broadcast on Radio National, with Kelly's programme broadcasting during its previous time slot. ''Australia Wide'' is still broadcast on

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

stations in regional areas outside capital cities. Other changes to the Radio National schedule in 2025 include

* The PM (radio program), PM programme is returning to 5p.m. weekdays, made possible the cancellation ''RN Drive'' which previously aired from 4p.m. to 5:30p.m. weekdays. * After ''PM'', the specialist programmes that previously aired at 6p.m. are returning to their previous 5.30p.m. slot, including ''Global Roaming'' on Mondays, ''Law Report'' on Tuesdays, ''Religion and Ethics Report'' on Wednesdays, new programs ''The Economy, Stupid'' on Thursdays and ''MediaLand'' on Fridays. Previous Friday programme ''Download this Show'', with new host

Rae Johnston Rae may refer to: People *Rae (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Rae (surname), including a list of people with the surname Nicknames for *Rachel (given name) * Rachelle * Raquel * Raven (given name) * Reema *Reena ( ...

(replacing Marc Fennell), now first airs at 8p.m. each Friday night. * Visual arts programme ''The Art Show'' (hosted by Daniel Browning) is halved to 30 minutes on Wednesdays at 10a.m. This is followed by new weekly arts news programme ''Arts in 30'' (also hosted by Browning) at 10:30a.m. * A new programme focused on scientific research ''Lab Notes'' to be hosted by Belinda Smith * ''TGIF'', previously hosted by Richard Glover (and only airing on

ABC Radio Sydney ABC Radio Sydney (official call sign: 2BL, formerly 2SB) is an ABC radio station in Sydney, Australia. It is the flagship station in the ABC Local Radio network and broadcasts on 702 kHz on the AM dial. The station transmits with a power ( ...

each Friday at 5p.m.), is now also airing on Radio National (on delay) on Friday evenings at 7p.m. with new host

Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering (born 29 August 1977) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, author and producer. Pickering currently hosts ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'', a weekly news satire television show on the ABC (Australia ...

now broadcasting from Melbourne. The show now also airs on

ABC Radio Melbourne ABC Radio Melbourne (official List of radio station callsigns in Victoria, callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924 and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after Radi ...

live at the same time as Sydney. * Hilary Harper (Mondays to Wednesday) and Cassie McCullagh (Thursday to Friday) will broadcast live between midday and 4p.m. each weekday, linking programmes and podcasts as part of an effort to return Radio National to a "live, flow format", with the live-to-air host interacting with listeners' text messages and correspondence during the afternoon. This also allows Radio National to air podcasts and programmes that are shorter than 30 minutes, with Harper and McCullagh able to fill air time responding to the audience and content. Ben Latimer, the ABC's Director of Audio told Australian marketing and media industry news website

Mumbrella ''Mumbrella'' is an Australian marketing and media industry news website. It was started in December 2008 by Tim Burrowes, and has since gone on to become a popular source for news, analysis and commentary on the advertising, PR, and media ind ...

that the 2025 changes was ABC Radio National's reaffirming of "its role as Australia’s premier audio gateway, offering audiences a window into the rich tapestry of intellectual and creative life in this country."

Description

Radio National broadcasts national programming in subjects that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy. Some programs are relayed on

Radio Australia ABC Radio Australia, also known as Radio Australia, is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, with some in Tok ...

, the ABC's international broadcasting service which was transmitted on

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

until January 2017, as well as 24-hour FM stations, local relay stations and live satellite. All radio programs are available for live

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

over the Internet, and most (excluding drama, poetry and music) as audio-on-demand, or for download as

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

s for at least four weeks after broadcast. Some programs are available as

s going back to 2005, when Radio National commenced podcasting.

Selected programs

Some of the following programs, listed in order of start date, are aired on both Radio National and

networks. * ''

Boyer Lectures The Boyer Lectures are a series of talks by prominent Australians, presenting ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues, and broadcast on ABC Radio National. The Boyer Lectures began in 1959 as the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commi ...

'' (1959–present) * '' PM (radio program), PM'' (1969–present) * '' Correspondents Report'' (before 1974–c.2019) * ''The Science Show'' (1975–present,

Robyn Williams Robyn Williams (born 30 January 1944) is a British/Australian science journalist and broadcaster who has hosted ''The Science Show'' on ABC Radio National (RN) since 1975, and created ''Ockham's Razor'' in 1984. Early life and education W ...

) * ''

The Coming Out Show ''The Coming Out Show'' was a radio program about women's issues broadcast by Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The program was first broadcast on ABC Radio 2 (now Radio National) in 1975, the United Nations designated International Women's ...

'' (1975–1998) * ''Radio Helicon'' (1981-?), N.B. championed by renowned poet Les Murray * ''Ockham's Razor'' (1984–present, Robyn Williams, then Tegan Taylor) * ''The Health Report'' (1985–present, Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor) * ''

Late Night Live ''Late Night Live'' (''LNL'') is an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program, broadcast on Radio National and also available as a podcast. It covers a wide variety of topics through interviews with the host, including current affairs, p ...

'' (1991–present, Phillip Adams) * '' The Music Show'' (1991–present, Andrew Ford since 1995) * ''The Live Set'' (1986–2017) * ''

Life Matters ''Life Matters'' is a magazine-style radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and the program is presented Monday to Thursday by Te ...

'' (1992–present) * ''Awaye!'' (8 February 1993–present), an

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

art and culture program presented by Rudi Bremer * ''

'' (1994–present, Peter Thompson 1994-2005, then

2005-2021,

Patricia Karvelas Patricia Karvelas (born 28 January 1981) is an Australian radio presenter, current affairs journalist and political correspondent. Karvelas hosted ''RN Breakfast, Breakfast'' on Radio National, ABC Radio National from 2021 until 2024. Early l ...

2022-2024,

2025-present) * '' Conversations'' (2012–present) * ''

The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, ...

'' (1995–2011, Terry Lane, Peter Mares) * ''

Sound Quality Sound quality is typically an assessment of the accuracy, fidelity, or Intelligibility (communication), intelligibility of sound, audio output from an electronic device. Quality can be measured objectively, such as when tools are used to gau ...

'' (1995–2015, Tim Ritchie) * '' The World Today'' (1999–present) * '' Bush Telegraph'' (2001–2014) * '' Big Ideas'' (c.2002–2023,

Paul Barclay Paul Barclay is an Australian writer, journalist, radio presenter and producer. Biography Barclay was born in Melbourne. Since the late 1990s, he has worked as a radio presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Queensland, Norther ...

, 2023–present Natasha Mitchell) * ''Speaking Out'' (1990–present, Larissa Behrendt) * '' The Night Air'' (2002–2013) * '' All in the Mind'' (c.2003–present) * ''

Counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

'' (2004–2024, Michael Duffy, Paul Comrie-Thomson, Brendan O'Neill, Tom Switzer,

Amanda Vanstone Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the ...

, and other right-wing figures) * ''Future Tense'' (2009–present, Antony Funnell) * ''RN Drive'' (2012–2024), hosted by (2012–2014

Waleed Aly Waleed Aly (born 15 August 1978) is an Australian television presenter, journalist, academic, and lawyer. Aly is a lecturer in politics at Monash University working in their Global Terrorism Research Centre, and a co-host of Network Ten's ne ...

; 2015–2021

; 2022–2024 Andy Park), covering politics, current affairs, arts, and culture * ''The Minefield'' (April 2015–present), hosted by

and Scott Stephens, which discusses ethical dilemmas * ''The Art Show'', formerly ''The Art Hub'' (December 2017–), hosted by Ed Ayres until mid-January 2020, when it was taken over by Namila Benson. Around July 2021 Daniel Browning became the main presenter. * ''Blueprint for Living'' (2018 or earlier – 2024), Jonathan Green (former editor of ''

Meanjin ''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is one of Australia's longest-running literary magazines. Established in 1940 in Brisbane, it moved to Melbourne in 1945 and as of 2008 is an editorially independent impri ...

'' and founding editor of ABC Online's ''The Drum'' * ''Sporty'' (c.2019–2022,

Amanda Smith Amanda Smith ( Berry; January 23, 1837 – February 24, 1915) was an American Methodist preacher and former slave who funded the former Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children in Harvey, Illino ...

) * ''

Sunday Extra ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. H ...

'' (2019–present, Julian Morrow, including ''Background Briefing'' and ''Ockham's Razor'', and apparently superseding ''Correspondents Report'') *''Stop Everything!'', presented by Benjamin Law and Beverley Wang * ''The Screen Show'', with Jason Di Rosso * The Economy, Stupid (2024 - present) * The Money * The Economists * The Religion and Ethics Report * The History Listen (2017 - 2024) * Rear Vision * ABC Rewind

References

External links

*
Current programs
* {{National radio networks in Australia 1923 establishments in Australia Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio Australian radio networks News and talk radio stations in Australia Public radio in Australia Radio stations established in 1923